Chapter 6 - Friend List

Sidus moved a hand across the table after dismissing the screen, resting his large hand gently over the top of Ash's, "This is where we part ways for a little while, I fear. You will not be forced immediately into things as Lunarilia has guide mode active for you. The two of you will have some time to discuss things about this false world I am not allowed to teach you about."

Ash found herself upset at the idea of him leaving, of not seeing him again for hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands with the state of her magic, "I am glad I got to see you again, lord Sidus," she said softly, leaving out the part where she feared it could be the last time.

"You may see me whenever you have the time between your adventures, young one. You need only visit a place of worship connected with me to do so. You will find one in each major city, perhaps even a shrine here and there in the wilds. There is also always your pond, as well, since you are able to return to your grove as you please," his hand gripped hers a little tightly before releasing it as he stood, "This is not a forever farewell, dear Ashterra, nor would I let you fade from your true world without being by your side no matter what it cost me to do so."

As he turned to pace away, fading into the starry skies that seemed so very distant while also feeling as if she could reach out and touch them, she saw his other form. He was a unicorn just as she was though he did not shift his race to any but those he had created when he was not in that form. His tail swished slightly as he walked, the stars in his coat and mane continuing to flare to life and fall to darkness as time marched ever onward.

Luna kept silent for a while, knowing how very important it was to Ash to be able to see him again. They'd still been so young when the gods had been all but cast out of their lives and then Ash's magic had started to break under the strain of her work. Sidus might have been able to help, had been able to take some of the burden of it himself when the young Starborn unicorn had made the journey the first few times, but as soon as he was barred Ash's magic began to crack under the pressure it put on her. Ash hadn't seen Sidus in at least a hundred years if not longer and could no longer spare the magic to see him without risking her life in the next cleansing ritual. The game gave her a way to see him again and that was a very important gift.

At length Ash found the ability to speak once more, the words breaking slightly with emotion, "Why didn't you tell me he'd be here, Luri?"

She wouldn't have fought nearly so hard if Luna had mentioned Sidus even once and Luna was well aware of it. Still, she'd wanted Ash to choose to play for herself and, perhaps a little selfishly, for their friendship first. Ash would do anything to please Sidus, to please the god that was as close to a birth-father to her as she could ever have.

Luna desperately wanted Ash to do something for herself, though. The rituals, the cleansing, letting Luna trim her horns for her, all of that was for Sidus and with her breaking magic, Ash hadn't done anything for herself in a very long time save for choosing foods to eat. Even all of her sleeping to preserve her magic was so that she could continue the very important job Sidus had given her, not to preserve her own life so she could eventually live it once more.

"I wanted you to choose this for you first, Asha," she summed up all of her complicated feelings, "I wanted you to choose the ability to live a life once more, even if it wasn't a real one. I wanted to make sure that you still wanted to live, that you weren't just fighting to do your job without regard to yourself. Because he doesn't want that for you any more than I do, doesn't want you to live only to act as a workhorse and then die when you're no longer of use. I couldn't present you to him as the priestess charged with guarding over you if what I was presenting was little more than a broken animal that only remembered the work it did for its master and not the bond that held them together."

That stung a bit, considering Luna was at least a little right. Ash had started trying to come to terms with her impending death a while back, had started trying to pull away as much as possible so it would hurt everyone around her less. The need to sleep near-constantly to preserve her magic had just made it easier to do. She'd thought that she'd given up completely, that she'd lost all hope. Despite that, the moment Luna dangled something in front of her even just the small chance for them to spend time together and laugh like they always had, she'd grasped onto it immediately.

Luna pulled up a screen that was obviously a friends list, Ash's own judging by how very empty it was. There was no sarcastic message to tell her that she should add people, nor even an encouraging one, just a header that said friends and an empty page.

"It looks a little bare right now but if we add me," despite being in guide mode, or perhaps because she was, Luna could interact with the screen that didn't belong to her and added herself, "We get to the slightly more in depth part."

A second smaller screen had appeared asking which friend list exactly she wanted to add Luna to. There were quite a few options, enough that Ash merely scowled at the screen rather than making a selection.

"So. Adventuring is for people that you quest with. You don't know them well, maybe you don't even want them to know anything more than a nickname for you. Acquaintances are slightly better known, they have the ability to visit your home from teleportation hubs but have to ask permission every time they want to. Friends can come and go from your home when they please though they can't mess with things there without asking permission and they get access to your proper name rather than just the nickname system. Family is for, well, family. They get full access to your name including any family name you may choose for yourself and can even move things around in your home and access some of your storages."

Ash nodded slightly and frowned, "Will my horns need trimmed in this game? Do you need permission to do so? Considering how often you always used to be over and how much stuff you bring and borrow it might be easier for me to just put you as family. We were basically raised as sisters, anyway," she grumbled just as much to Luna as herself, eventually settling on putting Luna in the family tab without getting any of the answers to her questions. They'd deal with it all later, she knew.

"There are a few other systems in play for the friend list and the like, but they're really complicated. If anything comes up, just send me a message and I'll answer. You can receive messages from the top two tiers on your list even when you're offline," Luna explained with a small smile, "So now we're onto the last part I can join you with for now, getting you ready to start your journey."